Westminstenders: Stuck in the Middle With TIGGERS

[RedToothBrush]

Well I don't know how we got here tonight.
We've got the feeling that something ain't right.
We're so scared as we leave the EU
And we're wondering how we'll get out of this stew

Antisemites to the left of me!
Dog Whistles to the right!
Here I am stuck in the middle whilst we leave the EU.

'Cause I'm stuck in the middle whilst we leave the EU.
And I'm wondering what it is we should do.
It's so hard to keep this smile from my face.
Losing control and running all over the place.

Clowns to the left of me!
Jokers to the right!
Here I am stuck in the middle whilst we leave the EU.

When you started off with rights
And you're starting to wonder if thats for life.
And all the politicians come crawling
Slap you on the back and say
Please . . .
Please . . .
Vote Leave and back EU Withdrawal

But we see it makes no sense at all.

Best to keep your money offshore
Than to visit the bookstore

Deniers to the left of me!
Islamaphobes to the right!
Here I am stuck in the middle with you.

Its finally happened. FINALLY.

MPs have seen that their leaders have lost the plot and are hell bent on destruction and politicial ideology ahead of practicality and will justify the unjustifable in the face of democracy and they have jumped ship.

Enter stage left and stage right: The TIGGERS - members of The Independent Group.

Will there be more. Hard to say no. It seems almost certain there will be more.

Will it make a difference? Difficult to call, but these MPs would be driven out sooner or later. Such is our accelerating politicial polarisation and narrowing of views. This is their last stand. They have nothing left to lose on a personal level.

Whether you agree with the TIGGERS or still look to the other parties for policy, I do think that the emergence of the TIGGERS marks a feeling of optimism and much needed hope for many many Remainers / Moderates, even if it ultimately does fizzle out.

A reflection from 2017: People voted for Corbyn because they were looking for Hope. When he's failed to deliver that, its led to disillusionment and he can not pull the same trick again at a future GE. This makes that doubly so. People are STILL very much looking for that hope. If Brexit does go tits up in a big fashion, then what happens? To what direction do people look? I'm sure there will be the bitterest of recriminations, but... hope is a big deal. We need something...

Tick tick tick. 37 days til Brexit.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/eu_referendum_2016_/3492426-Westministenders-Abbreviation

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The Guardian on contingency plans for food shortages. Basically warehouses are full with non-perishables.

There only needs to be one more Tory defector for May to lose her majority in principle. In practice it's a little more complex due to Labour Leave rebels, but it certainly makes her life more difficult if she officially loses her majority.

www.thesun.co.uk/news/brexit/8474362/remain-ministers-theresa-may-must-delay-brexit/amp/?__twitter_impression=true
DELAY, MAY... OR PAY Theresa May told to delay Brexit if there’s No Deal to halt Commons rebellion
Amber Rudd, David Gauke, Greg Clark and David Mundell said she must take No Deal off the table by extending Article 50

One Tory minister told The Sun: “The PM has a choice, and that was made clear to her.

“Either take no deal off the table by extending Article 50 or she will have to sack the lot of us, and still be defeated.”

The ultimatum’s revelation came as it also emerged last night that the PM is giving up hope of sealing a new deal in time for next Wednesday’s key vote, dubbed “high noon” by all.

Note Rudd's tweet today. Its thinly veiled.

If May sacks her cabinet for rebelling (I'm not convinced they'd follow convention and resign), I'd expect some to jump ship...

I'm sure I read somewhere that the conservatives are also in a bit of a financial bind at the moment. Wasn't there some talk that they didn't actually have enough money to run an election campaign because so many of their party donors had jumped ship?

Peston @itvpeston
Home Secretary @sajidjavid says he would never make a decision that would make any individual 'stateless'

See the full interview at 11.05pm on @ITV | #Peston

I smell a u turn. Is that because it would be illegal to do this?

Yep bigly. Indeed.

Here it is. I knew I hadn't imagined it!

www.google.com/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1078055/brexit-news-theresa-may-conservative-party-leave-EU-tory-donor-donation/amp

Bit of a pickle if neither of the big parties actually have the money for an election campaign. Could be a fun time for independents and small parties.

What an unholy mess.

I've just seen a clip of an interview with Chukka where he says they are going to have the same kind of transparency as political parties, even with their company structure. That's the thing that's been worrying me about their company structure, so that sounds like good news, but it got me wondering how much political parties actually need to declare? Do they have to declare all their donors? Imho, if they want to #changepolitics it should all be right out in the open.

The idea that children were seem as legitimate targets in order to achieve British military intelligence objectives in Northern Ireland makes me sick to my stomach . We must ensure we never go back to those days The GFA must be protected.
"A former RUC officer has alleged that British intelligence tried to persuade the Ulster Volunteer Force to attack a Catholic primary school in Co Armagh in retaliation for the Kingsmill massacre, in a new documentary to be premiered in Belfast on Thursday."

www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/british-intelligence-tried-to-get-uvf-to-shoot-up-a-school-documentary-claims-1.3800302?mode=amp&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Agree Rosa - that's disgusting.

I remain quite excited to see if anyone else will jump overboard tomorrow or Friday. And to see if anything is said about an A50 extension which surely can't be far away.

Just reading in the Guardian online that apparently Geoffrey Cox's Plan A to fiddle the backstop is for a 'codicil that would allow the UK to quit the backstop unilaterally with one year's notice'. Is he being dim or delusional? The EU will clearly not agree to that.

I like a bit towards the very end where a 'diplomat' is quoted as saying 'This fudge language, which is part of the British political tradition, doesn't really work with EU law'. So you need to use words that mean something when making agreements like this? Wow.

...

Thank you Red.

Are we still holding out hope that Art 50 will be revoked or that the 29th March date will be extended?
"Varadkar: I raised extension of Brexit date with Theresa May
The Irish premier said Mrs May made it clear that Brexit would go ahead on March 29 as planned."

amp.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/varadkar-i-raised-extension-of-brexit-date-with-theresa-may-37832418.html?__twitter_impression=true

I went to Asda yesterday...you know how they usually put stuff like Easter Eggs on the end of aisles...tins everywhere! And big catering size tea bag boxes and instant coffee jars. < wibble >

PMK. Missed most of the last thread but thank you red and all other regular contributors for bringing some sense of order to this sorry mess.

Next vote in HofC on 25th, yes?

I'm not looking at the news today because;

1. I'm really busy
2. I'm still on a high from yesterday...the voluntary group I started got £1k funding yesterday :)
3. Its like an episode of the thick of it without the laughs

It's hard to know whether May's statements are genuinely what she intends, or whether they are just statements to appease the ERG and the frothers of the Mail/Telegraph and Express.

tins everywhere!

Despite the official position that they’ve not seen an increase in buying of tinned and long life food, the supermarkets do seem to have engaged in rather prominent positioning of such goods. I really think they’re trying to ‘nudge’ everybody into a bit of forward purchasing, partly to take pressure off them to stockpile so much.

Had the same thoughts as Camolila in Asda yesterday (big tuna multipacks and coffee by the tills). Maybe nobody else is forward purchasing, but they’d run out of tinned peaches, so I’m going to have to have pears with my spam instead

Watched 'blackout' yesterday. Raiding shops for TVs when there's no power hilarious! But I found more interesting the guy with electronic tag who was trying to do a good deed made it obvious how judgemental we can be and the self sufficient guy filming everything commits a murder when he's finally pushed to raid a shop for food for his family. But, it made me think a lot about several issues. Scary really and I wished I lived a little bit more out in the countryside and glad I have my dog who though a pussycat would attack anyone hurting me. In my experience of having staffies they don't protect material things but they protect their owner. If you knocked on my door she would bark, but let you in, lick you to death but woe betide if you raised a hand to me! Unless she didn't lime you.

*like